The Dragon Hybrids
by Clare C.G
Summary: Spoilers for HTTTYD2. Two months since Drago attacked and life on Berk is getting back to normal. But when Stormfly lays some eggs that don't look like normal Deadly Nadder eggs Hiccup realises there could be some new arrivals Berk are far from prepared for. Stormfly/Toothless, Hiccup/Astrid. Rated T because of certain suggested moments.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the first fanfic I've written in a long time. Hoping it's ok. Haven't done much in the way of writing accents beyond a few words and yes, the narration is in British English while the speech I'm going to try and keep with American English to try and keep it as close to how the character's sound as I possibly can. I might end up slipping up though if I'm in a rush to upload without time to properly edit. Also hoping to upload a new chapter once every week, hopefully on a Sunday.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Astrid Hofferson flew over Berk on her dragon Stormfly, landing in front of the forge. Toothless, the only Night Fury on the island was waiting outside, which meant Hiccup Haddock-Berk's Chief and Astrid's fiancé of five months- would be inside. She couldn't help but smile, knowing she was going to get a chance to see him for the first time that day. At least for longer than a few brief glimpses as he flew over Berk doing one job after another.

Toothless bounded over as Astrid climbed off Stormfly and took her axe from the hoister at the back of the saddle. "Afternoon Toothless," Astrid said scratching the dragon under his chin. "Hope you're not wanting to leave any time soon because I might keep Hiccup here for a while." Toothless just grinned and went off to play with Stormfly, the two of them already disappearing round the corner as Astrid walked into the forge.

Gobber was by the furnace, heating up the blade of a sword, while a fourteen-year-old boy-Gobber's new apprentice since Hiccup had become chief- was rushing around getting tools and putting stuff away. "Hey Gobber, any chance I can get this sharpened?" Astrid asked holding up her axe.

"Sure, I'll get the new lad on it straight away," Gobber said. The boy came rushing over and took the axe from Astrid, carrying it much easier than Hiccup could at his age. "The Chief's in the back room by the way," Gobber added knowing exactly who the young blonde girl was looking around for. "Working on a few things to deal with the last of that ice."

"Thanks," Astrid said heading over to the back room. She pushed aside the curtain that separated it from the main hard of the forge, to see Hiccup sitting at the desk, papers scattered over the surface. He was concentrating on what he was drawing, strands of auburn hair falling over his face as he worked. "Afternoon Chief," Astrid said letting the curtain fall as she walked into the room.

Hiccup looked up and smiled. "Afternoon Milady," he said. "And where have you been?"

"Oh you know, busy at the Academy," Astrid replied leaning against the desk. "More importantly, where have you been?"

"Here, there, everywhere. Got a lot to get done to get Berk as good as new again before the wedding."

"You know I don't care what Berk looks like when we get married don't you. Because it's not Berk I'll be spending the day looking at."

"I know. But it would be nice not to have shards of ice sticking up everywhere. And it would be great to have dad's statue completed before the wedding. Then it will feel like he's there to see it."

Astrid smiled, leaned down and kissed Hiccup gently on the lips. She knew he missed his father a lot, and the remains of the ice around the village just reminded him of the battle with Drago only two months ago, a battle that Stoick the Vast- Hiccup's father and old Chief of Berk-had died in while saving Hiccup's life. The whole village missed him and were doing their best to support their new chief while he was still grieving and finding his feet as chief. "Why don't you come over tonight?" Astrid asked. "I can cook you dinner. Or at least try to."

"That sounds great," Hiccup answered. "I'll have to tell my mom not to wait up for me." Astrid just gave Hiccup a look to say that she was more likely to see his mum long before he would get a chance to. "Or you can tell her," Hiccup added.

"You're a brave man facing her cooking Hiccup," Gobber said as he came into the back room, carrying Astrid's now sharpened axe.

"Well I've faced a Red Death, a Bewilderbeast under the control of a mad man, had multiple chiefs from other tribes attempting to kill me, been hit by lightning, trapped in ice, almost drowned and had half of my leg cut off, amongst other things, and I'm still alive. I'm tougher than I look so Astrid's cooking is nothing."

"I'm improving. I'm sure I am," Astrid said as she took her axe from Gobber.

"Of course you are, I can sallow it now."

Astrid punched Hiccup on the arm but couldn't help but smile. Hiccup got up from the chair and slid an arm round her waist, pulling her closer to him. He then kissed her deeply as her free hand found its way into his hair. "Put the girl down Hiccup, you've got work to do," Gobber said. The two youths reluctantly broke the kiss, but made no attempt to break away from each other.

"I really should get going," Hiccup said. "I'll see you tonight."

"Not if I see you first," Astrid replied. Hiccup reached behind Astrid to pick up some of the papers on the desk, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left the room. Astrid and Gobber followed him out, in time to see him leave the forge and jump on Toothless.

"Stoick was right about him," Gobber said getting back to work. "He is turning out to be a very good at this chief thing."

"We all knew that. Hiccup just needed that little push to realise it too," Astrid said. She sighed sadly, remembering Stoick's funeral. "I just wish that little push hadn't been Stoick's death," she added.

"Aye, but we can't turn back time now," Gobber said. "Stoick would be proud of him though, getting Berk up and running again as quickly as he has."

Astrid nodded in agreement and then took a breath. "Well I should be heading back to the Academy," she said. "Still got the afternoon classes to do."

"Tell Valka she's welcome to join me in the Great Hall for a drink tonight if she doesn't want to be in the house alone," Gobber said.

"Will do." Astrid then left the forge to see Stormfly waiting for her. She gave the dragon a scratch under the chin before putting her axe back in its hoister and climbing back on. "Ok girl off we go," Astrid said. Stormfly gave a happy cluck and lifted off into the air, taking them both back to the Dragon Academy that sat high on the cliff on the other side of the village, overlooking the sea and the village.

The rest of the members of the Dragon Academy were already there when Astrid landed, waiting for the younger children of the village to arrive for their weekly lessons on the basics of dragons, before they got to go on and learn about training and flying dragons. Fishlegs Ingerman and Valka Haddock-Hiccup's newly found mum- were already busy planning the lesson, while Fishleg's dragon, Meatlug and Valka's dragon, Cloudjumper sat behind them, watching what they were doing over their shoulders. On the other side of the circular room, Snotlout Jorgenson and the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston were deep in conversation. Snotlout's dragon Hookfang looked like he was asleep behind him, while the twins two headed dragon Barf and Belch were trying to wake him up, with Barf breathing out the green Hideous Zippleback gas over the Monstrous Nightmare.

Astrid decided it was best to keep well away in case of explosion, and went over to talk to Fishlegs and Valka instead. "So are we almost ready?" Astrid asked.

"Just about," Valka answered. "Have you seen that son of mine on your travels?"

"He was at the forge earlier, working on a few things. Said there was no need for you to wait up for him tonight."

"No doubt he'll be away all night," Fishlegs added, earning a punch on the arm from Astrid.

Valka just laughed and shock her head. "Well if he's going to be gone all night and sneak in before dawn just to pretend he has slept in his own bed for most of the night I think I'll spend some time in the Great Hall," she said. "Have a catch up with a few people I haven't seen in a long time."

Astrid tried to hide a blush, only just realising that Hiccup's mum was on to the fact that her son was spending whole nights at Astrid's house. And almost as fast as Stoick had when it first started to happen.

The sound of an explosion on the other side of the room caught Astrid, Fishlegs, Valka and their dragons' attention and they looked round to see the twins laughing their heads off while Snotlout stood there, his hair and clothes smoking a little, Hookfang and Barf and Belch smirking away behind him. Astrid, Fishlegs and Valka burst out laughing too. Life on Berk was back to being peaceful, and it looked like it might stay that way.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, next chapter. Took me four days to get the first scene to something I was happy with and really I'm only about 97% happy with it. And writing characters that don't speak was harder than I thought. Hope you all enjoy this though. Please remember to review as any feedback is welcome and may help me improve.**

**C****hapter 2**

Hiccup and Toothless landed outside Astrid's house just as the sun was setting. The two of them normally flew up to one of the highest points on the island to watch the sun set but Hiccup didn't like to keep Astrid waiting and he thought he might be a bit late as it was. Hiccup climbed off Toothless, switching his metal leg from flight mode to land mode as he did so, and gave the dragon a pat on the nose. "Remember to be quiet tonight bud," he said. "Don't want anyone seeing you and know I'm still here when it gets really late."

Toothless just smiled and headed into the dragon stable at the side of Astrid's house, where Stormfly was already waiting for him. The two dragons disappeared into the stables, talking to each other in their own dragon language and Hiccup couldn't help but smile as he walked over to the front door. Before he had a chance to knock the door opened and Astrid stood in the doorway, her hair out of its usual braid and falling in waves over her shoulders and down her back.

Hiccup let out a breath and gulped, wondering if he was ever going to get used to seeing her with her hair down. He always found her beautiful but with her hair down, she looked stunning and every time he saw her like that it turned him to jelly and he could hardly find the right words to say without fear that he'd turn into a stuttering mess. "Gods you're beautiful," he said without even realising it.

Astrid giggled and smiled as she leaned against the door. "Took you five seconds babe," she said. "Your recovery is getting faster. Maybe at this rate by the time we're married you'll be able to speak in about two seconds."

"That soon?" Hiccup replied.

"Come on, get in."

Hiccup did what he was told and waited until Astrid had closed the door before he pulled her in for a kiss. She backed up against the door, wrapping her arms round his neck as his hands moved from her waist to her hips. Hiccup heard her gasp as he moved his lips to her neck, his hands moving underneath her red tunic. "I've missed you so much today," Hiccup breathed in her ear.

If Astrid had remembered to count the seconds she would have known how long it had taken for Hiccup to go from stunned into silence at the sight of her to fully recovered, but the way he started to trace circles on the small of her back made it hard for her to keep track of anything. She lifted up his chin so she could kiss him and found herself getting lost in his deep green eyes. It was her turn to lose the power of speech. "I love you," she managed to say in a breathless whisper.

"Four seconds," Hiccup said with a smile before he realised he hadn't even been counting the seconds. "I think." Astrid just kissed him deep and passionately, her hands moving down to his chest, undoing the straps of his flight suit and taking it off while his hands continued to make circles on her back. Once the flight suit was off it got thrown onto a nearby chair, where Astrid's fur hood and shoulder pads were already sitting.

Astrid moved her hands under Hiccup's dark green short sleeved tunic, tracing her fingers over the muscles on his chest and stomach. He might not have the bulk of muscle like other Vikings but Astrid didn't care. Puberty and training had given him enough. And anyway his body wasn't the main reason she was marrying him. They didn't know how long they stayed like that, pressed against the door, moaning into each other's mouths as their fingers brushed against the other's skin, with no-one around to tell them they needed to come up for air, or that they had work to do that meant they had to part. It was just them, alone. They could stay this way forever if they wanted.

And if there hadn't been the smell of burning. Astrid was the first to smell it and broke the kiss. "Oh for the love of Thor the dinner!" she exclaimed managing to free herself from Hiccup's grip to rush over to the fire. Hiccup followed close behind and helped her take the pot from the fire and place it on the table. The top of the pot was covered in smoke, which started to fill the room. "Well that turned into a disaster," Astrid said using a cloth to try and clear the smoke. "Good job you're not marrying me for my cooking."

"Why don't we just skip dinner?" Hiccup suggested slipping his hand under Astrid's tunic again. He eyed the stairs that lead up to Astrid's bedroom and Astrid followed his gaze. She smiled and threw the cloth down onto the table before turning round to face her fiancé.

"Race you," she said. "Loser does whatever the winner says."

"You're on," Hiccup said before making a ran for the stairs. Astrid ran after him, grabbing his arm to hold him back so she could pass. Hiccup lost his balance and fell backwards, taking Astrid with him. She gave a small scream as she fell, landing on top of him with her face buried in his neck. The two of them burst out laughing, making no move to get up. "That serves you right for cheating," Hiccup laughed. "You should have let me get a head start. I need a head start seeing as I only have one leg."

"That would be like letting you win," Astrid said lifting her head up. "I could never let you win."

"Not even once?"

"Wouldn't it be more fun to win fair and square?"

"You were the one who was cheating."

"I can still win without cheating," Astrid gave Hiccup a quick kiss on the cheek before she jumped up and ran for the stairs.

By the time Hiccup climbed to his feet Astrid was already at the top of the stairs. He gave a small smile and ran after her. When he reached the top of the stairs the door to Astrid's bedroom was wide open and he could see Astrid sitting on the bed, leaning back on her hands, a smug smile on her face. "Looks like I won," she said seeing Hiccup appear in the doorway.

"Looks like you did," Hiccup replied leaning against the door frame with his arms folded but his smile looking like it wasn't going to go away any time soon. "Well then, your every wish is my command Milady."

Astrid squealed and sat up. "Come here and kiss me," she ordered. Hiccup pushed away from the door walked over to the bed. When he reached Astrid he slid one hand into her hair and the other he placed on her waist as he pushed her backwards onto the bed, brushing his lips against hers before he went in for a more passionate kiss, letting dumb desire take over them both.

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><p>In the dragon stables Toothless and Stormfly could hear their riders laughter coming through from the main house but chose to ignore it. Instead Toothless just settled down on the floor while Stormfly darted about collecting anything soft and piling it up in the corner, both of them pretending they couldn't hear what was happening inside the house. It was the same every time Hiccup came round and Toothless had to admit in the months since Stoick had died it was good to hear his best friend laugh. He just wished when Hiccup told him to keep the noise down, Hiccup himself kept the noise down. The sound of laughter was replaced by the sound of footsteps running up stairs and the two dragons rolled their eyes, knowing what was going to happen next.<p>

Toothless decided his attention was better off focused on what Stormfly was doing. He was sure it looked like she was building a small nest to keep her eggs safe. Not all the dragons on Berk migrated to lay eggs now, and even if they did it was either the nearby dragon nest where a lot of the dragons Valka had rescued had settled, or the breeding island Hiccup had found Berk's dragons on the first Snoggletog after the war between Berk and dragons had ended, and Toothless knew Stormfly wasn't likely to migrate again, but it still confused him to see the female dragon he'd become very, very close to over the years making a nest.

And then a thought hit him and he sat up. The two dragons were as close as Hiccup and Astrid were and with Stormfly making a nest could only mean one thing. A look a pride appeared across his face, he was going to be a father. Stormfly looked over at him, giving him a look to say it was about time he worked it out before she went back to making her nest. Toothless bounced over to Stormfly, intending to help, only to knock the whole thing down. Stormfly narrowed her eyes at him and Toothless backed away with a look of guilt, deciding to leave her to it. The sound of Astrid squealing and then laughing caught his attention and he looked up, remembering the two lovers were upstairs, most likely unaware of what Astrid's dragon was doing and why. And he had a feeling they weren't going to be all that happy when they found out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok, so I was on a roll so I decided to update early. Luckily might get a new chapter for Sunday too. There was a scene I decided to delete from this chapter because it was getting long anyway but I'm planning on doing a one-shot type series with deleted scenes and one-shots inspired by moments from this story so I'll post it on there. **

**Also I will try and put more Toothless and Stormfly scenes in. So enjoy this next chapter and please don't forget to review.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Toothless couldn't sleep. He was far too busy worrying about when Stormfly was going to lay her eggs. And how Hiccup and Astrid would react when they found out. The house was quiet now and Toothless could only guess that the young lovers were now sound asleep. Most of the village were asleep and those who weren't were in the Great Hall. Toothless could hear the faint sounds of their laughter coming up from the slightly open door. He walked over to the entrance of the stables to watch as some people left the Great Hall to make their way home. He noticed Eret and Valka leaving, deep in conversation as they walked towards the Haddock house. Deciding that Valka should know what's going on and with a quick glance back at Stormfly-who was sleeping by the nest she'd made-Toothless sneaked out of the stables and rushed through the streets as fast as he could towards the Haddock house.

He kept to the shadows, making sure he made no noise and draw attention to himself. No doubt Hiccup would find out he'd sneaked out soon enough but he'd rather it come from Valka rather than a random villager who heard him knocking things over. When he got to the house, he jumped over a sleeping Cloudjumper, who was at his usual spot outside Valka's bedroom window, and went round to the front of the house, just as Valka and Eret arrived. "Toothless, what are you doing here?" Valka asked, surprised to see the dragon there. She was sure it would be morning before she saw them.

"Hiccup sneaking in is he?" Eret asked.

"Far too early for that," Valka replied. Toothless nudged Valka's hand and looked over at Astrid's house. She followed his gaze and then looked at Eret, both of them realising Toothless wanted Valka at least to follow him. Toothless rushed off back towards Astrid's house and Valka and Eret followed. Eret kept his hand on the hilt of his dagger, ready to draw it as soon as they came face to face with whatever danger Toothless wanted to warn them about. But when they arrived all they were was Stormfly, now awake, and already starting to lay her eggs.

"Is this what you wanted to tell us?" Valka asked in a whisper, aware that her son and future daughter-in-law would be asleep in the house.

"Should we really be here?" Eret asked also whispering. "What if they wake up and find us here?"

"Then we just say that Toothless brought us here. I think he might be a little bit worried. But no need to worry. She looks like she's got it all well in hand." Valka then noticed the colour of the eggs and took a step closer. "Well that is odd," she said. "These are not normal Deadly Nadder eggs."

"Do you think that's why Toothless is worried about her?" Eret asked.

"I guess so. Father's always worry about the birth of their children don't they?"

"Father? Toothless?"

"Toothless may be the first Night Fury I've ever seen up close but I know what Night Fury eggs look like. And there's black on those eggs. Toothless is about to become a father."

Toothless went rushing to Stormfly's side, feeling a bit reassured that everything was going to be fine. "I think we should leave them to it," Eret said. "Before Hiccup and Astrid wake up and find us here."

"Yes, we should. The two of them will find out about this soon enough," Valka said. Valka gave Toothless a scratch under the chin before patting Stormfly on the side of the nose, making sure not to get in her blind spot. She then followed Eret out of the stables and looked up at the top floor of the house and smiled, silently wishing her son goodnight before she started making her way back home.

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><p>The dawn light was just coming through Astrid's bedroom window as Hiccup got dressed. As he sat on the bed putting his boot on he was aware of Astrid watching him from behind him, but he didn't look round for fear that if he did he'd be tempted to climb back in there with her. He hated leaving her this early but he had to. The last time he stayed too long his dad had found out what was going on and he had to beg him not to tell anyone because he didn't want the whole village to find out and start talking. And for once Stoick had listened to his son and agreed not to say a word on the promise that Hiccup at least tried to put a stop to his all night visits. And Hiccup had tried not going round and spending the night but that had lasted about two weeks.<p>

"Just one more month babe," Astrid said watching as Hiccup got up from the bed and grabbed his tunic from where he'd thrown it the night before. "Then all this sneaking around will be over."

"I know," Hiccup said turning round to face her while he put the tunic back on. "I can still hardly believe it's going to happen."

"Neither can I. If someone had told me five years ago that I'd end up being Mrs Haddock I'd have laughed. But here I am, not only about to be just that, but the wife of the chief."

Hiccup walked over to the bed and rested one knee on it as he leaned down and kissed Astrid gently. Astrid smiled up at him and he smiled back. "I love you," he said, playing with a strand of Astrid's hair.

"I know," Astrid said.

"You get back to sleep and I promise you I'll find some time today to get to the academy and see you."

"I'll try and sleep without you by my side."

Hiccup smiled again and gave Astrid and quick kiss on the lips, then on her neck and bare shoulders before back to her lips. He then got up and Astrid pulled the fur covers a little further up as she rolled onto her side, watching as Hiccup left the room, closing the door behind him.

Hiccup rushed downstairs to see Toothless waiting by the window. It was unusual for Toothless to be ready to go before Hiccup and with the look on the dragon's face it was enough to let Hiccup know that something was wrong. "What's wrong bud?" Hiccup asked as he let the house, not caring that he had yet to put his flight suit on and was likely to not be home before his mother woke up at this rate. Toothless headed into the stables, making Hiccup follow. He tried to push down the fear that was starting to rise up from his stomach, worried that Stormfly was ill or something. He wasn't expecting to see the Deadly Nadder sleeping next to a small nest. Or that the nest would be filled with eggs.

Toothless was right by Stormfly's side, looking into the nest at the blue and black eggs that were inside. Hiccup took a step closer to get a better look at the eggs. Deadly Nadder eggs were not blue and black. They were normally just blue. He looked round at Toothless and saw the look of pride on the dragon's face. It didn't take long to work out what had happened. "Well that's unexpected," he said before getting closer to the nest, making sure not to wake Stormfly along the way. The dragon may have trusted him enough to get close and then touch the last lot of babies she had but he didn't want to risk her reaction if he got too close to her eggs. He sat down next to Toothless and started scratching under the dragon's chin. "Wow, so you're going to be a father," Hiccup said. "That's great news. Night Fury babies. And Deadly Nadder babies. Deadly Nadder and Night Fury hybrid babies. That's…That's going to be a heck of a lot of work. It'll be a whole new sub species to find out about. And Astrid isn't going to be best pleased with you when she finds out."

That was when Hiccup remembered Astrid was still asleep upstairs, unaware of what her dragon had spent the night doing. And he couldn't possibly leave her to find out for herself. He got up and rushed out of the stables. "Astrid!" he called as he ran back into the house and up the stairs. "Astrid wake up!" He burst into the bedroom and Astrid sat up, a little confused as to why Hiccup was still there when she thought he would have left already. The big grin on his face told her that Berk wasn't under attack though, which just left her even more confused. "Get dressed," Hiccup said. "You have got to come and see this."

"Why? What's going on?" Astrid asked.

"It's Stormfly. She laid eggs last night. You've got to come and see!"

Astrid gave a sigh, wondering if there was ever going to be a moment her future husband would not get excited over the sight of a dragon egg. But then, it was her dragon that had laid eggs and this was the first time she was going to be there to see them hatch. She grabbed her clothes and quickly got dressed, and once she got her boots on she followed Hiccup out of the house and into the stables.

Stormfly was awake now, watching over the eggs and making repairs to the nest. The two dragon riders slowly walked over to the nest and were relieved to see Stormfly allowing them to get close. Astrid gasped when she saw the eggs and looked up, seeing Toothless and the look of pride on his face and the big smile on her fiancé's face. "Those eggs are partly black," she said. "Nadder eggs aren't partly black."

"I know!" Hiccup exclaimed. "And what dragon have black eggs?! Night Furies!"

"We've never seen a Night Fury egg."

"Well they're most likely to be black. Night Furies are black. But do you realise what this means?! Toothless is going to be a father!"

Astrid just stared at him, part of her wanting his enthusiasm to rub off her on. But all she could think about was that they'd never dealt with hybrid dragons before and had no idea what they were going to be capable of. They could cause havoc around the village and it had just got back to normal after Drago's attack. "This village is not ready for hybrid dragons," Astrid said.

"Of course not," Hiccup said. "We weren't ready when there were non-hybrid dragon babies. But just think, this is a first. This could be a whole new species of dragon. A whole new class. The start of a brand new section in the Book of Dragons."

Astrid couldn't help but smile at that. He hadn't had a chance to discover new dragons and update the Book of Dragons for months. This was something he loved to do, a chance to take a break from chief duties and enjoy himself. And that was what got her in the end. The chance to see him get busy doing something he enjoyed. "Ok, so it might be fun to discover all about these new dragons," she said. "And they properly will end up being really cute. But, you know they're going to end up causing havoc right?"

"Dragon babies always do," Hiccup pointed out. "But we can handle it. I'm sure we will."

"I hope so. Now, I'm going back inside to wash up and get some fresh clothes on. You get home before your mother discovers you haven't been home all night."

"Ok. Come on Toothless."

But Toothless made no attempt to move, giving Hiccup a pleading look. He really wanted to stay. Hiccup sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Ok, fine. You can stay," he said. "I'll just walk."

"Don't forget your flight suit!" Astrid reminded him as she left the stables. Hiccup followed her out, glancing back at the dragons as they watched over the eggs. He couldn't help but smile at the sight, knowing Toothless was going to get something neither of them deep down had thought possible. Toothless now had a family.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ok, so new chapter. Just about managed this because today was manic and made it a little hard to get it finished so haven't had time to read it through for typos and stuff. Hope you all enjoy it though and don't forget to review.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Hiccup opened the front door as quietly as he could and slipped through, glad to see his mum had her back to the door, sewing something together. He closed the door carefully and tip-toed towards the stairs, praying his metal leg wouldn't give him away and he could claim he'd just overslept. But just as he reached the stairs he got caught. "How's Astrid this morning?" Valka asked not looking round at her son.

"She-she's fine," Hiccup answered.

"That's good to hear. I went to check on you this morning and you weren't in bed."

"I-" Hiccup sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "There's no point in me denying it is there?" he said going over to join his mum. He knew he was busted. Again.

"No. And don't try and claim it was only this one time," Valka said. "Gobber told me your father caught you sneaking in one time. And I suspected you were spending nights with Astrid for a long time."

"You never said anything," Hiccup said as he sat down next to his mum.

"You are old enough to do what you want."

"How'd you find out?"

"I'm a light sleeper Hiccup. I hear you sneak in before the sun comes up. Sometimes I wake up and find myself going up to check on you. Sometimes you're there, sound asleep and looking so peaceful. And sometimes you're not. At first I got worried about where you were. I thought you had an accident while out flying or something. It was only when Gobber told me about the time you sneaked in that I realised what was going on."

"Maybe I should have mentioned something. I didn't realise you were checking in on me." Hiccup sighed and sat back in the chair. "Dad used to do that a lot after the battle with the Red Death," he said. "He didn't know I knew but there were times I'd be lying awake and I'd hear the door open and I knew it was him, checking to see if I was ok."

"He did that a lot when you were born," Valka said. "Always making sure you were still breathing." It was Valka's turn to sigh as she stopped what she was doing. "Anyway, Toothless came back here last night," she said deciding it was best to have a change of subject. "I know about Stormfly's eggs. I'm assuming you do too."

"Found out this morning," Hiccup said. "Toothless didn't want to leave so he's still there."

"Well of course. He is the father. Male dragons are known to keep a close eye on their eggs too."

Hiccup sat up, silently cursing himself that he hadn't thought of it before. His mum had spent twenty years with dragons. If anyone knew what was likely to happen it would be her. "Mom, have you ever dealt with hybrid dragons before?" he asked.

"A few times, yes," Valka said going back to her sowing. "Always fascinating to see how they grow up. I'm sure this time will be no different."

"Did you ever write down anything about them?"

"No. But I remembered it all."

"Wait right there." Hiccup jumped up and ran up the stairs. He went into his room and picked up the Book of Dragons and a pencil from his desk, before he rushed back downstairs. "Feel free to write everything you know down about them in here," he said placing the book and pencil on the table in front of his mother.

"And what will you be doing?" Valka asked as Hiccup rushed back up the stairs.

"I've got to get to work!"

Valka put her sewing aside and opened the book, flicking through the pages and reading the changes that had been made to it since the war with the dragons had ended. There was no more `extremely dangerous, kill on sight` written at the end of every entry, replaced with ways to subdue them and train them. There were entries on new dragons and Valka noticed the Night Fury entry was now completed, unlike the last time she'd seen it when she was just a teenager, when there was just the name and all the statistics were unknown.

Hiccup came rushing down the stairs after having washed and changed and gave his mother a hug as he said his goodbyes. "Remember to eat something," Valka said giving Hiccup a quick kiss on the forehead.

"I will," Hiccup said. He then left the house and headed back towards Astrid's house to check on the eggs before he really needed to get started with chief duties. He found Astrid giving both dragons some breakfast, now properly dressed with her hair back in its braid and her armour and fur hood on. "Morning Milady," Hiccup said leaning against the wooden beam of the entrance of the stables.

"Morning Chief," Astrid said turning round at the sound of Hiccup's voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd come check on things."

"You've hardly been gone half an hour. Most days I hardly see you and now it seems I can't get rid of you."

"You don't seem to be trying very hard to get rid of me."

"That would be because I'd rather not be rid of you." Astrid left the dragons to eat and walked over to Hiccup. She wrapped one arm round his neck and pulled him down for a kiss as her other hand rested on his chest, feeling his heartbeat get faster as they kissed.

"You two need to get a room," a voice said from behind them. They broke the kiss and looked round to see Eret standing a few feet away.

"We have one," Astrid said. "I just don't need the temptation right now."

"Yeah, I heard about the dragon eggs," Eret said. "Mostly because I happened to be there when Toothless came to show them to Valka."

"Oh." Astrid turned back to Hiccup, who was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, remembering one of the reasons he was there.

"Yeah, I was going to tell you about that," Hiccup said. "But it's very hard to talk with your tongue in my mouth."

Astrid should have been angry at not being told sooner, but she couldn't bring herself to be and ended up smiling. It was her fault he never got the chance to tell her anyway. "Is there anyone else who already knows?" she asked.

"Just me and Valka," Eret answered.

"Well sooner or later the whole village will need to know," Hiccup said. "We're going to have hybrid dragons around the place soon."

"Well you can tell the council this afternoon at the meeting," Astrid said.

"Yeah, that's going to be a lot of fun."

"Well, I only came to see how Stormfly was doing," Eret said. "And I see both parents seem to be doing fine."

Hiccup and Astrid both looked round to see Toothless and Stormfly busy eating the pile of fish Astrid had given them. They looked so happy, that the two riders wondered how they hadn't noticed just how close the dragons had become. "Will be hard to get them to leave the eggs for a while though," Astrid said. "Looks like the two of us will be without them for a couple of days."

"Then it's a good job I don't have a lot of rushing around to do today," Hiccup said. "Speaking of which, I need to get going."

"Wait, have you eaten this morning?"

"I will."

"You better or I will force feed you my cooking."

Hiccup smiled and gave Astrid a kiss on the cheek before he headed off towards the forge, Astrid and Eret watching him go. "So how long does it take for dragon eggs to hatch anyway?" Eret asked as Hiccup disappeared from sight.

"A couple of days," Astrid answered. "Let's hope they don't explode."

"Dragon eggs do that?"

"Well we know Gronckle eggs explode. I'm sure Gobber's told you the story about that."

"He did. Was a nice idea."

"I thought so too. Until the first egg exploded." Astrid sighed at the memory and decided a change of subject was needed. And she was likely to be late if she didn't hurry. "Well anyway, I need to get to the academy," she said making a move to go inside and get her axe.

"I could give you a lift if you want," Eret offered.

"No thanks. The walk might do me some good."

"Ok, see you this afternoon then." And with that Eret walked off. Astrid gave one last look at Stormfly and Toothless and then at the eggs, making a mental note to bring up the possibility that they might explode at the meeting, just so they were ready if they did.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Ok, next chapter. I'm hoping it's ok because I didn't get much of a chance to read through it before posting. Mad week. Anyway, hope you enjoy it and please review. Also feel free to tell me which name for the new dragons you think sounds the best, Deadly Furies or Night Nadders.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Hiccup walked into the Great Hall that afternoon to see Tuffnut asleep on one of the benches, snoring loudly. The few people who were in the hall were ignoring him, making Hiccup wonder if the blonde Viking youth had been there all day. If Toothless had been there he would have nudged Tuffnut off the bench and woke him up but as the dragon was still with Stormfly and the eggs in Astrid's stables Hiccup decided to leave Tuffnut to sleep until one of the others came in and decided to wake him up. Instead he walked over to the main table round the largest fire and sat down at the head to wait for the others. Valka was first to enter, carrying the book of dragons and with Cloudjumper following on behind. "There we go," she said placing the book down in front of Hiccup. "One updated book of dragons. Added a few bits to the other entries too."

"Thanks mom," Hiccup said.

"Have you seen the dragons since this morning?"

"Didn't get much time. But they seemed pretty happy last time I saw them."

Tuffnut gave a loud snore, making Hiccup and Valka look round. "Shouldn't someone wake him up?" Valka asked.

"Go ahead," Hiccup said. "I was kind of hoping Ruffnut would have realised he was missing and come looking for him." Cloudjumper was already heading over to the bench Tuffnut was sleeping on and gave the Viking a nudge, pushing him off the bench.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," Tuffnut said, his voice thick with sleep. "Where'd everyone go? Have they left already?"

"It's the afternoon," Hiccup said as Tuffnut and Cloudjumper returned to the main table. "The meeting hasn't even started yet."

"The chief's meeting? Oh man I must have passed out some time last night. Thought Ruffnut would have woken me up. Where'd she go?"

"No idea."

"Oh right, you were at Astrid's. So how's work on that heir going?"

"Tuffnut!"

"Don't blame me. It's your mom that's been going on about when you're going to make her a grandmother."

Valka gave a shocked gasp. "I have said no such thing!" she exclaimed.

"Ok, can we not talk about my love life," Hiccup said. "If Astrid comes in someone will get threatened with the loss of a limb. Most likely Tuffnut."

As if on cue Astrid came into the Great Hall and headed over to the main table. "Fishlegs has been out looking for you," she said to Tuffnut as she made her way round to Hiccup's chair to sit down next to him.

"So only one person came looking for me," Tuffnut said.

"Well someone had to do some work today. And anyway, Fishlegs volunteered just to avoid your sister and Snotlout."

"And now we have the answer as to where Ruffnut went," Hiccup said. "In future please direct all comments about heirs in her and Snotlout's direction."

Tuffnut made a disgusted face as he sat down. "I'd rather not think about that," he said. Fishlegs was next to come in, with Meatlug at his side, the dragon making an attempt to cheer her rider up.

"We should tell him," Astrid said. "I'm sure it'll cheer him up."

"What will?" Tuffnut asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," Hiccup said.

"I'm forever going to be alone!" Fishlegs exclaimed as he sat down. He laid his head down on the table and gave a small wail, while Meatlug licked her rider's hand.

"I'm sure there's a nice girl out there for you," Valka said giving Fishlegs's back a rub to try and comfort him. Over to two months since she'd returned to Berk the two of them had bonded over dragons and she'd started to think of him like a second son. She really didn't like seeing him upset.

"I've got some news that might cheer you up Fishlegs," Hiccup said as Eret joined the table.

"What kind of news?" Fishlegs asked.

"New dragons."

Fishlegs's head shot up as he straightened up, all upset about losing his chances with Ruffnut forgotten. "I'm listening," he said.

"New dragons? Does this have something to do with the migration?" Gobber asked as he joined the table. "And where's Toothless?"

"I will explain all at the meeting," Hiccup said. "Even though a few people already know."

"Can't I hear it now?" Fishlegs asked.

"When the meeting gets started. Best everyone hears it together. You can take a look at the Book of Dragons while you wait for everyone else to arrive though. Mom updated it."

Fishlegs's eyes lit up and he slid the book towards him to start reading. "Looks like that'll distract him long enough," Eret said nodding towards Fishlegs before he noticed Ruffnut and Snotlout come in. "Which is a good thing seeing who's coming in."

"Oh I can have some fun with this," Hiccup said under his breath. He didn't realise Astrid had heard him until he felt her punch him on the arm.

"Don't you dare," Astrid hissed. "Think of poor Fishlegs. He doesn't need the reminder."

"Right, sorry," Hiccup whispered back. He noticed the other council members were also making their way into the Great Hall and over to the table, all deep in conversation. The members of the council were pretty much the same as when Stoick had been chief, The only changes Hiccup had made was appointing Eret, Valka, Astrid and the rest of his friends members, replacing the few that had decided that with a new younger chief, there needed to be some new faces on the council.

Once everyone had sat down Hiccup stood up and everyone fell silent. He took a breath and cleared his throat, the thought of having to conduct these meetings still unnerving him a little. "Ok everyone, let's get this started," he said hoping he didn't start rambling. "First, the Bewilderbeast ice has finally all been cleared and put to good use. Let's hope it won't cause us any more problems as we've got something a lot bigger to deal with in the coming weeks."

"The ice has gone, the village has been rebuilt, what can we possibly have to deal with now?" Snotlout said.

"Something that came up this morning. Berk is going to be getting some new dragons soon." Hiccup gave a quick glance at Astrid, giving her the chance to step in and announce the news if she wanted. When she just smiled at him he turned back to the council. "Stormfly laid eggs this morning," he announced.

"Last night actually," Valka put in. "That was when Toothless came to find me to show me."

"So we're getting baby Deadly Nadders," Tuffnut said. "What's the big deal? We can handle them."

"They won't be Deadly Nadders though," Hiccup said. "The eggs, and so the dragons are part Deadly Nadder, part Night Fury."

"Oh my gods a whole new species of dragons!" Fishlegs exclaimed, a huge smile on his face. "This is like the best news ever!"

"Part Night Fury? That means Toothless right?" Ruffnut asked.

"Yes, it means Toothless is the father," Hiccup answered.

"And there was you claiming you weren't spending all night at Astrid's house," Spitelout said from where he was sitting a little further down the table. He'd given up his position as the Chief's Right Hand, in favour of Snotlout much to everyone's surprise, but Hiccup still wanted him on the council anyway. "Because really, what other opportunity would your dragons get to mate?" Spitelout continued.

"We could breed other hybrid dragons," Snotlout said. "Like a Monstrous Nightmare with a Gronckle."

"You are not allowing Hookfang anywhere near my princess!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "If she mates with anyone it'll be a nice dragon! With prospects!"

"There are plenty of other Gronckles on the island."

"No-one is breeding hybrid dragons. Berk isn't ready for the ones we're about to get. Which is why we need to be ready for when they hatch," Hiccup said. "Now, they should stay in the nest for a week or so after they hatch, which gives us at least some time to figure out what they can do and be prepared for it when they start flying."

"I can't believe we get to study a new species of dragons first hand!" Fishlegs said. "We need to think of a name."

"I vote for Deadly Furies," Snotlout said.

"Yeah, that sounds like the right sort of name for the offspring of the Alpha dragon," Ruffnut agreed.

"A name that would strike fear in the hearts of our enemies!" Tuffnut added.

"I vote for Night Nadders," Fishlegs said.

"Sounds like a much nicer name to me," Gobber said. Valka and Eret agreed. A whole debate started about what was the better name. Hiccup sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He should have known this was going to happen. He tried to get everyone to shut up, but they weren't listening.

"Everyone shut up!" Astrid yelled as she stood up. The table went silent.

"Thank you Astrid," Hiccup said before turning back to the table. "Listen, there's no point of thinking of what to name them just yet. We need to get Berk ready for the kind of havoc we're likely to be faced with when they arrive. The last thing we need is the village getting destroyed. Again."

The council agreed and the topic was dropped. The rest of the meeting went without another word about the new arrivals, or any other comments on what certain members of the council were getting up to at night, much to Hiccup's relief. He was even more relived when the meeting was over, wondering if there was ever going to be a time that he didn't dread them. "You're doing great babe," Astrid said taking Hiccup's hand as the rest of the council left the Great Hall.

Hiccup gave her a small smile, glad for the support. "I wish I could just take off somewhere," he said.

"Then why don't you?" Astrid asked.

"Toothless won't leave the eggs."

"We can at least try and persuade him. He might fancy a flight somewhere for an hour or so."

"I guess we could try."

Astrid smiled and led Hiccup out of the Great Hall and back towards her house, already thinking about how great it would be to finally take off somewhere, just the two of them, for the first time in months.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: First, thank you everyone who voted for the name of the new dragons or suggested names. Still don't know yet if it should be Deadly Furies or Night Nadders but I wasn't planning on revealing the final name for a while yet. **

**Second: I have been forgetting to spell check, until I somehow managed to do so by accident so found a few errors in past chapters that I have now corrected. If you find anymore in any chapter, please tell me.**

**Anyway very short chapter this week. Came down with a cold and forced myself to write through it, but couldn't get very far. Struggled a bit with where this chapter was going and when I did kind of struggled with how to get there. Hoping it's alright. Next week I hope to be better, with a bit more of the dragons. And hopefully will get that done on time because I'm going to London Film and Comic Con Winter next week. Praying they'll have some HTTYD stuff there to spend money on.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

When Hiccup and Astrid arrived at the stables Toothless came rushing up to them so fast he knocked Hiccup off his feet. He started licking his rider's face, ignoring his protests. Hiccup managed to get out from under his dragon to see Astrid laugh while he gave Toothless a scratch behind the ears. "Thanks for that bud," Hiccup said trying to get as much of the dragon spit off his face, hands and clothes as he could. He flicked some of it at Toothless, almost hitting Astrid in the process. Astrid just flinched away, still laughing. "So, fancy going for a little ride out?" Hiccup asked. Toothless just looked back at where Stormfly was attending the eggs, clearly worried about leaving them. "Just for an hour or so," Hiccup continued. "Stretch those wings a bit." Toothless still seemed a bit reluctant but before Hiccup could say anything to try and persuade the dragon to go flying, Fishlegs came rushing up to them, carrying the Book of Dragons.

"You have got to thank your mom for the new information," he said. "This is amazing! And new dragons that must be out there somewhere! This is the best day of my life."

"Glad you're feeling better," Astrid said.

"I can't wait to find out what these new dragons can do!"

"Neither can I," Hiccup said. "And I'm going to need your help updating the Book of Dragons when they arrive."

Fishleg's squealed and gave Hiccup a big bear hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he exclaimed. "This is going to be awesome!"

"Do you want to see the eggs?" Astrid asked smiling at Fishlegs's enthusiasm.

Fishlegs nodded and rushed into the stables, with Astrid close behind. "See, dragons are far better than girlfriends," Hiccup said as he and Toothless followed them into the stables.

"You take that back," Astrid warned.

Hiccup just smiled. "Make me," he said. Astrid just grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him down for a kiss. Toothless rolled his eyes and went back to the nest, where Stormfly was keeping a very close eye on Fishlegs as he took a closer look at the eggs.

"This is so amazing!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "We get to see dragon eggs hatch. Without exploding!"

"No-one is ever going to let me live that down are they?" Astrid asked.

"No," Fishlegs and Hiccup said.

"Well if you boys are going to squeal over dragons for the rest of the day and I'm going to make us something to eat." Astrid gave Hiccup a kiss on the cheek, getting a mouthful of dragon spit in the process. She wiped her mouth as she made her way out of the stables.

"Oh I'm fine," Fishlegs said.

"It's not optional," Astrid said before she disappeared round the corner.

"I'm going to die aren't I?"

"Oh it's not that bad," Hiccup said. Toothless gave Fishlegs a nudge, reminding the two men what they were doing there. They looked back to see both dragons looking over one of the eggs, which seemed to be shaking.

"Oh gods, it might actually explode," Fishlegs said.

"Isn't it a little early to be hatching anyway?" Hiccup asked.

"Yep. Far, far too early."

The egg started to crack, the two dragon riders breathed a sigh of relief that it looked like the egg wasn't going to explode after all. "Astrid is not going to be happy about missing this," Hiccup said as a small jet black head started to poke through the cracks.

"The joy of birth," Fishlegs said. "Happening right in front of us." Stormfly started helping the baby dragon out of the egg by breaking away more of the shell so there was more space for it to climb out. Once it was out it collapsed into the nest and Stormfly gave it a little nudge to help it to its feet.

The baby dragon really did look like a cross between a Night Fury and a Deadly Nadder. Its head was minus the front horn, looking more like a Night Fury, with the same big green eyes Toothless had, and it had the spiked crown at the back like a Deadly Nadder, jet black with yellow tips. The rest of its body was more like a Deadly Nadder, also jet black with yellow streaks on its wings and on the spikes that ran down its tail. "It's so cute!" Fishlegs exclaimed.

"It's also very small," Hiccup noticed as Toothless and Stormfly both made a fuss over the new arrival. "Like smaller than a normal baby dragon. Not even Terrible Terror babies are that small."

"Well it did hatch early. Maybe we should name it Hiccup."

"No names. Not yet."

"Well I'm going to start making notes. Hopefully Stormfly and Toothless won't mind me taking a closer look."

"Just be careful. I'm going to go find Astrid and tell her what happened. And get that baby something to eat."

Fishlegs just nodded and headed over to the nest as quietly as he could, while Hiccup left the stables, trying not to worry about what might happen to baby dragons that hatch early and what it could mean for the new arrival.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Another short chapter and posted early because I'm at London Film and Comic Con Winter tomorrow and I got this finished early. Some of these chapters may end up a bit shorter from now on anyway because I have two weeks before I start NaNoWriMo where I will be aiming to write 50,000 words of a original story during the 30 days of November and will be aiming to work on this after I've reached the 1,567 daily target. If you've never heard of NaNoWriMo then Google it and give it a go because it's a good way to get you just writing and not go back to edit until the story is finished. Anyway, in the next two weeks I'm hoping to get a lot of this done in advance to keep the every Sunday update going. Luckily have the last week of October off work to get a lot of writing done.**

**So enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

Astrid was busy preparing some food when Hiccup rushed in. She noticed the look on his face, a mixture of joy and worry, and realised the eggs were hatching already. "I'm missing the eggs hatching?!" she exclaimed.

"One already did," Hiccup replied. "Think it's the only one those. Come and look. And bring some fish." Astrid grabbed a fish from the basket and followed Hiccup out of the house and back to the stables, where they saw Fishlegs sitting by the nest, stroking the baby dragon's head, while Toothless and Stormfly kept close, keeping an eye on him.

"Awwwww it's so cute!" Astrid exclaimed rushing over to the nest. She gave the fish to Stormfly, who ate it and then regurgitated it to feed the baby dragon.

"This is so amazing!" Fishlegs exclaimed for what must have been the umpteenth time that day. "It's teeth are retractable! I have no idea if it will shot fire or plasma blasts yet but I'm sure we'll soon find out."

"We should leave them to it," Hiccup said watching the two dragons take care of their new baby.

"Right, I still have food cooking," Astrid said. The three dragon riders left the stables when they heard someone calling for the chief. Hiccup groaned and looked round to see Spitelout come rushing over to them.

"Chief, there's a problem down at the docks," Spitelout said as he reached them. Hiccup fought the urge to groan again. Just when he thought the day was going to get easier something always came up.

"I'll meet you there," he said before turning back to Fishlegs and Astrid. "I'll be right back." He then gave Astrid a kiss on the cheek before he followed Spitelout down to the docks. He would have gotten to the docks faster on Toothless but he knew there was no way of getting the dragon to move now the new baby was there so he had no choice but to run as fast as he could without tripping up.

"Well I should get going," Fishlegs said. "Get Meatlug fed and all that. Tell Hiccup I'll see him tomorrow."

"Sure you don't want to stay for something to eat?" Astrid asked.

"No. I'm good. Would much rather live to see my next birthday." And with that Fishlegs hurried off as fast as he could.

"My cooking is not that bad!" Astrid called after him. She looked round to see Toothless at the entrance of the stables. "You don't mind my cooking do you Toothless?" she asked.

Toothless, knowing it was best not to anger his mate's rider decided to just smile and nod. He knew he did right when the blonde smiled and headed back inside with the promise to bring the dragons some more fish. Toothless headed back inside the stables to find Stormfly trying to get the baby to stand up again. Stormfly gave Toothless a worried glance and the Night Fury headed over to the nest to see what he could do to help. Both dragons had picked up on how worried Hiccup seemed to be about the baby and were just starting to realise why. It was tiny and weak and if it didn't get to a good size before the other eggs hatched it might not get enough food and wouldn't survive the week. Toothless nuzzled Stormfly's neck, trying to reassure her that everything will be ok. They were on an island that cared about dragons, no-one on there would just allow a baby dragon to die, regardless of whether it would happen in the wild or not.

Stormfly relaxed a little, understanding that Toothless was right. Their riders would step in if they feared for the baby's life, they were sure of it. The sound of footsteps at the entrance made both dragons look round and they saw Astrid coming in with some more fish. She put the basket down by the nest, and got her first good look at the baby dragon, and the worried looks of its parents. "You two don't need to worry. You don't have to do this on your own. You've got me and Hiccup." Astrid said patting both dragons on the head, confirming what the dragons had already assured themselves of. "And Valka. And Fishlegs. And the rest of the village. We won't let anything happen to any dragon on this island, especially the vulnerable ones. Now you should eat up. Got another mouth to feed and both of you need your strength too." Astrid gave both dragons a scratch under the chin before she left the stables again to finish cooking dinner for herself, pushing her own worries for the baby dragon to the back of her mind.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So next chapter. Kind of struggled a bit with the scene of Valka controlling the dragons. No matter how much I tried I couldn't get it the way I was hoping. It was like my mind went blank. Hopefully you'll all enjoy it though. And don't forget to review.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

When Hiccup reached the docks he found the place in chaos, with dragons flying and rushing around everywhere and a few of the newly repaired boats on fire. Snotlout was standing on the wooden walk way, soaking wet and looking a little charred, while the twins stood laughing a few feet away. "What exactly happened?" Hiccup asked.

"It seemed that a few Terrible Terrors were playing around and a few of the other dragons started to join in and somehow everything went up in flames," Spitelout answered.

"And what happened to Snotlout?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Now that you've said that I'm not sure I do. Just please tell me someone is or was organizing buckets to put this out."

"Snotlout was. Then he ended up hanging from a mast, caught on fire when Hookfang got him down and ended up in the ocean."

Hiccup face palmed, then took a breath, ready to start giving orders. "Right, I'll start getting buckets together to put this fire out," he said. "Find my mom because I'm going to need some help getting these dragons under control."

"What about Toothless? He's the Alpha, can't he help keep them under control?" Spitelout asked.

"He's still with the eggs. And the new baby. I can't get him to move. So I'm going to need as much help as I can get."

Spitelout rushed off to find Valka, while Hiccup rushed down the walk way to start getting everyone organized. As soon as they saw him, the twins stopped laughing. "Don't ask," Snotlout said.

"You're dad already told me," Hiccup said.

"It was Belch and Barf's fault."

"They were only trying to help," Tuffnut shot back.

"I really don't care who's fault it is," Hiccup said. "Just get some buckets and get this fire put out before we lose any more ships."

"Yes Chief," Snotlout and the twins said before they mounted their dragons and flew off to refill the buckets they already had. Eret landed on the walk way on Skullcrusher, and jumped down while Hiccup continued to give orders, getting both villagers and dragons away from the flames and organizing buckets of water. When Hiccup saw him he rushed over.

"Eret, how good are you at rounding up dragons? And I mean nicely," Hiccup said.

"Completely rubbish to be honest," Eret replied. "Being nice to dragons wasn't really on top of my list of priorities during my trapper days."

"Not exactly what I wanted to hear. I need as much help as I can get getting these dragons under control while Toothless is out of action."

"Well I'll do what I can."

Valka came flying overhead on Cloudjumper, her staff in hand and already rounding the dragons up as she flew round with the speed and grace that managed to always amaze the two Viking men who were watching underneath. "Eret get me up there," Hiccup said unclipping Inferno from his belt and turned the flame sword on. Eret climbed back onto Skullcrusher and held out a hand to help Hiccup on. They flew up into the air and took the other side as they gathered the dragons together. "Mom, lead them to the academy," Hiccup ordered. "They should be safe there for the moment."

Below the other dragon riders-Fishlegs now having joined them on Meatlug-flew overhead with buckets to dump water on the fire, while other villagers were on the ground with buckets. The place looked a calmer now the dragons were rushing around causing more havoc. Valka lead the way to the Dragon Academy, while Eret and Hiccup brought up the rear. Once all the dragons were settled into the academy and calm, Hiccup turned Inferno off and ordered Eret to take him back to the docks. Valka went with them and when they landed much of the fire had died down. "How much damage?" Hiccup asked as Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins joined them on the walk way and everyone had dismounted their dragons.

"Lost about half of the ships," Snotlout replied. "Two by sinking."

"How'd this happen anyway?" Fishlegs asked.

"Because the Alpha is too busy with his new babies to keep the rest of the dragons under control."

"It was an accident," Hiccup said. "It's not like Toothless can be everywhere at once anyway."

"We need an acting Alpha."

"You can't have an acting Alpha," Ruffnut said. "Can you?"

"Looks like they might need someone to keep them under control for some of the time," Valka said.

"Well I vote for Valka and Cloudjumper," Eret said.

"That's not a bad idea," Hiccup said. "The dragons listen to them already."

"Well it won't be for long," Valka said. The other dragon riders agreed to have Valka and Cloudjumper take charge of the dragons for a while and with the decision made, Valka flew off on Cloudjumper to deal with the dragons in the academy. Hiccup started to give orders to deal with the sunken boats and the repairs to the others, wanting it sorted before the sun fully went down so he could get back to Astrid and the dragon eggs.

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><p>It was already dark by the time Hiccup got back to Astrid's house to see her standing outside the stables. "You were a long time," she said. "What happened?"<p>

"Some dragons accidently set some of the ships on fire," Hiccup answered. "Sunk two. So tomorrow it's back to repairing ships. How's the baby dragon?"

"Still not standing. And I'm getting a little worried about Stormfly and Toothless not wanting to leave. Think tomorrow we really will need to persuade them to take some time away for a flight."

"Yeah. Really could have done with Toothless down at the docks earlier. If mom hadn't been there to help round the dragons up it would've been a lot harder to get things under control."

"It won't be for much longer."

"I know." Hiccup looked into the stables, to see Toothless helping to feed the baby, while Stormfly slept. "Listen, can I stay tonight?" he asked looking back at Astrid. "In case anything happens with the baby."

"Of course," Astrid answered. "Come on, I've already made you dinner. Hopefully it's edible. And hasn't gone cold." Hiccup took Astrid's hand and led her back to the house, hoping there wasn't going to be any more problems that would take him away from the woman he loved for a second time that evening.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So next chapter. Bit of a breather just because I really wanted to write some Hiccup/Astrid fluff. Next week I'll get back to the main story. With short chapters too because of NaNoWriMo and my aim to write about 1,670 odd words a day on my original novel comes first this month. Don't forget to review.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

It was dawn when Stormfly woke up to the familiar scent of fish, chicken, and soap, letting her know that Astrid was there with breakfast. She also picked up on the faint smell of leather, something she always associated with Hiccup, so when she opened her eyes to find only her rider standing there with a basket of fish and some chicken she ended up looking round to see where the boy was.

"Hiccup's still in bed," Astrid said putting the basket down. She could tell why Stormfly was so confused, knowing the dragon had picked up on Hiccup's scent. When she had got up to give the dragons some breakfast she didn't bother getting properly changed, instead just putting on her leggings and Hiccup's tunic, the extra 4 inches of height he had on her now making it longer on her than it did on her fiancé. She liked wearing it whenever she got up before him, getting to smell him and keeping him close for a bit longer.

As Stormfly nudged Toothless awake, Astrid went over to the sleeping baby dragon and picked it up. It opened its eyes and snuggled up into the tunic as she sat down. Stormfly headed over to feed the baby, leaving Toothless to take some fish from the basket for his own breakfast. "We should think of a name for you shouldn't we little fella," Astrid said as the baby dragon took food from Stormfly's mouth. "Maybe we should name you after our chief. Because you hatched early and you're a little clumsy on your feet but I'm sure you'll grow up to be the toughest, smartest and most powerful of them all." The baby dragon gave a small squeak in delight and Astrid smiled. "I think he likes that idea," she said looking up at the two dragons, who were both busy eating breakfast for themselves. "Hope Hiccup won't mind it too much."

She sat there for a few more moments, holding the baby dragon as Stormfly continued to feed him. Once everything she'd brought had been eating she placed the newly named dragon back into the nest and got up. She patted both Toothless and Stormfly on the nose before heading back into the house. As she walked through the door she saw Hiccup coming down the stairs, dressed except for his tunic. "Morning Milady," he said with a smile. "I was wondering where my shirt went."

"Needed to give the dragons their breakfast," Astrid said closing her front door and walking over to the stairs. "It was the nearest thing for me to wear."

"You know I don't believe that for a second don't you?"

"It's true!"

"Astrid last night you had my shirt off me as soon as I got through your bedroom door. When I woke up your clothes were exactly where you threw them, by the side of the bed."

Astrid folded her arms and pouted. "Ok, so it wasn't the first thing I came across," she said. "But I like wearing your shirt."

Hiccup walked over to her and put his arms around her waist, kissing her nose before gently kissing her on the lips. "So how is our new dragon family doing?" he asked.

"Very well," Astrid answered wrapped her arms round Hiccup's neck. "The baby's eating well though it's still a little clumsy on its feet. I decided to name it. Thought I'd name it after you."

"Oh right. Poor dragon."

"Thought it was a good name. Make people underestimate him, thinking he's just the runt and useless when really he's smarter and stronger than anyone else."

"Are you talking about me or the dragon?"

"Both."

Hiccup smiled and kissed Astrid deeply, his hands moving to her hips as he moved backwards towards the table. When she hit the edge, Hiccup lifted her up onto the table and she wrapped her legs around him to pull him closer. He started kissing her neck, his hands moving to the waistband of her leggings. "Babe, as much as I'm enjoying this don't you have other places to be?" Astrid asked, her hands moving down Hiccup's arms, her fingers tracing the slight muscles on them.

"I'd rather be here," Hiccup mumbled into Astrid's neck. "Anyway, I can't go anywhere when you're still wearing my shirt."

"Want me to take it off?"

"Oh gods yes."

"Then you'll have to let me off this table so I can go up and get changed."

Hiccup stopped kissing Astrid's jawline and looked up at her. "That wasn't what I meant," he said, making Astrid giggle.

"I know," she replied. She started tracing her fingers down Hiccup's chest and his stomach, making circles around his belly button before moving back up. "I like this," she said. "You staying instead of getting dressed and leaving before the sun's fully up. What made you decide to stay?"

"You stole my shirt," Hiccup replied.

"Seriously."

Hiccup sighed. "Well the whole village seems to have known for a while that I spend the night with you and there's really no point in trying to deny it anymore. So there's no point in sneaking around," he said. "Now, we have two options, I can make breakfast or we can go back upstairs and get busy under the furs."

"Well both sound like very tempting offers," Astrid said. "Will be hard to choose."

There was a knock on the door and Hiccup groaned in frustration. "If that's for me, I'm busy doing important chief business," he said as he moved away from the table to allow Astrid to jump off and head for the door.

"So I'm important chief business now am I?" Astrid joked as she got closer to the door. Hiccup just smiled and Astrid opened the door to see Valka standing on the other side, carrying a basket. "Valka, h-hi," Astrid said, suddenly all too aware of what she was wearing.

"Morning Astrid," Valka replied. "Is Hiccup about?"

As if on cue Hiccup appeared at the door. "Hi mom," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to see how the dragons were and seeing as I thought you'd be here I thought I'd come and see if you were awake," Valka said. "I brought some extra fish in case it was needed."

"Um… thanks. Do you want to come in? I was just about to start breakfast."

"Oh I don't want to intrude."

"It's ok. I was just going to get dressed anyway," Astrid said. She let Valka in and closed the door before she rushed up the stairs to get ready for the day. Valka put the basket of fish down just as Hiccup's tunic came flying down the stairs. It landed on Hiccup's head, making Valka laugh. Hiccup pulled tunic off his head and put it on, breathing in Astrid's scent as he did so.

"So how are the dragons doing?" Valka asked as Hiccup went to start making breakfast.

"Well I haven't seen them yet today but Astrid said they were fine," Hiccup replied.

"The other eggs might hatch today. Think Astrid would mind if I stay just in case?"

"Why would I mind?!" Astrid called from upstairs. "It'd be nice to have the company! Because I'm not going to miss these eggs hatching for anything!"

"Well that's settled then," Hiccup said.

"I'll go take this fish to them," Valka said picking up the basket. She left the main house, leaving Hiccup to cook while Astrid finished getting ready for the day.


	10. Sorry, no chapter

**So sorry everyone but no chapter. I know I missed Sunday and that was because I'd spent the little time I had to work on this writing and rewriting the chapter and still hadn't finished or happy with it. I got a bit carried away with NaNoWriMo last week and this week I've been struggling to make the target which means I've had to work longer on it to get there. Which means the next chapter still isn't finished. If I can catch up by Sunday and get back on a roll I may have more time to work on this story and might get it done to something I'm happy with by the 23****rd****. So no new chapter this Sunday either.**

**Really sorry but I promise next week I will try and get a chapter out. Didn't really want to waste a chapter having to give a quick update in case people were wondering but didn't want people to wonder what's going on with this when I don't update for two weeks.**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Ok, extremely short chapter this week. The result of two/three weeks of writing and rewriting and NaNoWriMo and distractions that haven't given me much time to work on it. Going to take a break next week to focus on the last week of NaNoWriMo so please enjoy this very small chapter until then. And don't forget to review.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

After breakfast Hiccup grabbed his belt and Inferno, ready to head home quickly to get the list of things that needed to be done that day, before heading to the docks to check on the repairs to the ships. "I'll be back later to check on the eggs," he said before kissing Astrid a quick kiss on the lips and heading for the door.

"Have a good day babe," Astrid said watching him walk backwards out the door.

"I'll try." Hiccup then gave Astrid a wink and a smile before he closed the door and was gone.

Astrid was still watching the door, her chin resting on her hand as she rested her elbow on the table. "Why does that man have to be the exception to every rule I set myself?" she asked.

"That's what love does to you," Valka said placing the bowls and spoons the three had used into the sink to be washed up. "No matter how many barriers you put up, there will always be someone who knocks them down."

"I used to think that if I didn't let anyone in, I wouldn't get hurt. But then there's Hiccup. I let him in, and I didn't get hurt. I don't think he would ever hurt me. Not knowingly anyway."

"I was like that when I was a teenager. A lot of people thought I was weird. So I told myself never to let anyone in. And then there was Stoick. I doubt he fully understood me, but he tried. And he loved me regardless. Letting him in seemed so easy." Valka sighed and leaned against the worktop. "I should have come back sooner. Maybe as soon I learnt to ride Cloudjumper I should have flown back and showed the whole village I was right about dragons being peaceful. Maybe then Stoick would have understood and Hiccup wouldn't have had to grow up feeling like he didn't belong," she said.

"You weren't to know what would have happened if you returned," Astrid said as she got up and joined the older woman.

"I know." Valka sighed again and pushed herself off the worktop with a smile, wanting to put an end to the conversation. "Why don't we go and see how those dragons are getting on shall we?" she asked. "The eggs should be about ready to hatch." Valka headed for the door, with Astrid following on behind as they left the house.

Astrid should have realised her future mother-in-law still had some lingering guilt about staying away for so long. And she doubted it would ever go away. If it had been her who had stayed away for twenty years, thinking it was for the best, only to discover it hadn't been for the best, she'd have felt just as guilty no matter what was said.

The two women walked into the dragon stables to find Toothless and Stormfly with baby dragon Hiccup, watching over the eggs as small cracks started to appear in them. The rest of the eggs were already starting to hatch, and Astrid and Valka were just in time to see it happen.


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: And I'm back. Just narrowly missed wining NaNoWriMo by about 2,120 words. Closet I've ever got though so that's something. And did sort of finish the story at that point and was just trying to find places I could add scenes and moments into to pad out the word count. Anyway, onto rewriting my NaNoWriMo novel to improve it and back to writing this. **

**I have no idea how this is going to end or when. I'm just writing and hoping a good way to wrap things up comes to mind. Hope you all enjoy it and don't forget to review.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

Astrid and Valka moved slowly towards the nest as the heads of the baby dragons started to pop out of the shells. Toothless and Stormfly were already starting to help break the shell away to allow the dragons to stumble out. Worried that Dragon Hiccup would get squashed in the rush to free the other babies, Astrid picked him up and kept a safe distance away so that Toothless and Stormfly could get to their new babies and begin feeding them from the basket of fish Valka had brought. There were five of them, looking the same as Dragon Hiccup, with some streaked with red and purple instead of yellow. They also looked a bit bigger than Dragon Hiccup, which just made Astrid worry more about the early hatchling and whether he'd get a look in on the food from now on. "Oh they are adorable," Valka said getting closer to the nest and holding out her hand for the babies to sniff.

"Going to be a lot to handle when they come out of the nest," Astrid said.

"Only a few baby dragons. Berk's faced worse."

"Had easier times with baby dragons too. We don't know what these babies can do."

"I doubt much damage right now." Valka got up and went to join Astrid where she was watching Stormfly and Toothless fuss over the new babies from a safe distance. "We just have to worry about this little guy," Valka continued giving the baby dragon in Astrid's arms a scratch under the chin. "Make sure he's well looked after. We need to find a way to keep a close eye on him. With the other babies hatched he's not going to get the attention he has had since yesterday."

"Should we-?" Astrid started to ask.

Valka new exactly what Astrid was thinking. "No," she said shaking her head. "Not yet. No need to take him away from his parents. We'll just have to keep checking up on them regularly to make sure."

"Right," Astrid said before she put dragon Hiccup back down, who rushed off to join the rest of his family and hopefully get fed. The two woman watched as Toothless nudged the smaller baby back into the nest and then gave him some fish. "You know, I'm glad you're here," Astrid said as they watched. "We've never experienced an early dragon baby before. I don't think anyone knows what to expect."

"Well no-one knows what to expect when it comes this little dragon family," Valka replied. "That's all part of the fun though."

"I guess so. Well, maybe we should go and find Hiccup and tell him the other eggs have hatched."

"I can stay here and keep watch if you want."

"Ok. Thanks." Astrid rushed off, always glad for a chance to spend a few moments with Hiccup.

It took Astrid a while to find Hiccup as he wasn't at the docks. Or at the forge like Snotlout said. Or the Dragon Academy like Gobber said. And with no-one at the academy Astrid had to run around the village in the hope of finding him or someone who'd seen him and could promise he would still be there.

In the end she found him in the Great Hall, talking to two couples Astrid knew were neighbours. Beside them was a sheep, still chewing a piece of fabric that matched the piece one of the women was holding. Astrid stayed by the door and watched as Hiccup dealt with the dispute, a small smile on her face. She loved watching Hiccup do his peacemaker thing, even if for a time after Drago he doubted just how good he was at it. But Astrid knew he was the best peacemaker Berk ever had. And not just with the small village disputes but the bigger stuff. He stopped wars. Drago was just too set in his own ideas to listen. She didn't blame Hiccup for trying though.

She waited until he finished and the two couples and the sheep were leaving before she walked up to him. He had his back to her, busy with some papers on the table, so she wrapped her arms round his waist and kissed his shoulder. "I thought you and mom were watching the eggs," Hiccup asked taking Astrid's hands, but making no move to turn around.

"We were," Astrid answered. "And then they hatched."

Hiccup looked up over his shoulder. "Already?" he asked.

"Yep. Got a few minutes to spare to come and see?" Astrid replied.

"For you Milady I always have a few minutes to spare."

Astrid smiled and took Hiccup's hand. Hiccup picked up the papers on the table as he allowed himself to be lead out of the Great Hall. Anything else on his list of jobs could easily be delayed for a while longer.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: So new chapter. Touch and go for a second that this would be done on time. So much to do with Christmas coming up. And talking about Christmas, I'm not going to update the Sunday after Christmas to give me some time to get the chapter after the next written over Christmas and New Year when I'm likely to be stuck doing family stuff. And watching a lot of movies. The UK has a lot of good Dreamworks movies on over the holidays, including Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2 and what I'm most looking forward to How To Train Your Dragon, even though I've got it on DVD anyway.**

**Ok, so I'll shut up now. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

After finishing feeding the new babies Toothless and Stormfly laid down and watched the first hatchling, who was busy running around Valka's feet. They were both glad to see him on his feet, even if he fell over a few times. It just made them understand why Astrid and Fishlegs had wanted to call him Hiccup. The name kind of suited him. They looked up when they heard someone approaching, to see Astrid and Hiccup appear in the entrance. Toothless gave a smile, glancing over at the new babies, who were also watching their sibling play. Hiccup couldn't help but smile back. "We'd better talk to Fishlegs and get to work on that new section for the Book of Dragons," Valka said as Hiccup and Astrid came closer, the new babies instantly rushing over to them. "Any thoughts on what to call them?"

"Not actually given it much thought," Hiccup replied. "Maybe we should let the council vote on it."

"I'm sure they kind of already did," Astrid said.

"I mean a proper vote. One where the whole table can vote and everyone can argue their case for the name they want."

"Oh I would love to hear Snotlout's case for Deadly Furies."

"As long as you give everyone some time to come up with their argument," Valka said.

"Right. Should start spreading the word," Hiccup said. "I'll go and find Fishlegs."

"I'll go and find Snotlout," Astrid said. The two of them rushed off in different directions, Astrid heading back to the docks, while Hiccup headed for the Dragon Academy, the mostly likely place to find Fishlegs, leaving Valka with the dragons.

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><p>Hiccup found Fishlegs feeding some injured wild dragons Valka liked to bring to the island for treatment. They were kept in the old cages at the academy, the heavy doors replaced with sliding bars to make it easier to keep an eye on and keep them safe from the hustle and bustle of the village. At the moment they were all out in the main ring, Fishlegs in the middle with a few buckets of fish. "Morning Chief," Fishlegs said when he saw Hiccup walking into the ring.<p>

"I've got good news," Hiccup said patting one of the injured dragons on the nose as he passed. "All the eggs have hatched."

"Oh my gods! Do they all look like the first one?"

"Yep. And Astrid convinced me to name the first one Hiccup just so you know."

"How'd she manage that?"

"How'd you think?"

Fishlegs realised what Hiccup meant. Or what he thought he meant. He didn't really want to know if he was right though. "Oh," was all he said. He then decided to change the subject. "So what now?" he asked.

"Well we need to get started on that new section of the Book of Dragons. Which means we need to think of a name for them," Hiccup said.

"Night Nadders. Please can it be Night Nadders."

"We're going to vote in the next council meeting. You have until tomorrow afternoon to think of a convincing argument for the name."

"Yes! I will have the best argument and will convince the while council."

"I don't doubt that. Given that you'll be up against Snotlout you might just win the vote."

"At least I might win something against him."

"You'll find someone soon Fishlegs. Listen, when you're done I'm sure Astrid won't mind you popping round to see the new babies. My mom's already there now, keeping an eye on them."

Fishleg's face lit up again. "Really?!" he exclaimed. "Awesome!"

"Anyway I've got a lot I need to get back to. I'll see you later," Hiccup said smiling at seeing his friend happy again.

"See you." And with that Fishlegs went back to feeding the dragons, while Hiccup left the academy to get back to the list of jobs he needed to do, for once looking forward to the next council meeting.


End file.
